Verdad y Derecho   
Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales  
Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025 
https://doi.org/10.62574/605vqd88 
53 
 
 
Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system 
Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano 
 
Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez 
Julioarrias2@gmail.com 
Koinonia Research Network, Portoviejo, Manabí, Ecuador  
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5259-9359 
 
Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes 
Bryan1996mauri1996@gmail.com 
Koinonia Research Network, Portoviejo, Manabí, Ecuador  
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1062-7343 
 
Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca 
Jhonnatan.admbatan@gmail.com 
Koinonia Research Network, Portoviejo, Manabí, Ecuador  
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7878-1097 
 
 
ABSTRACT 
The aim of the current research article is to analyse the social reintegration policies in the ecuadorian 
penal system. Based on a qualitative methodological design of a descriptive-analytical nature in a 
population of 20 scientific articles. The results reveal that the system operates under a 'rehabilitative 
formalism' where the programmes exist nominally but lack the material conditions for their effective 
implementation.  It  is  concluded  that  social  reintegration  policies  require  a  comprehensive 
reformulation  that  transcends  fragmented  interventions  to  build  a  coherent,  sustainable  and 
evidence-based model that articulates inter-institutional efforts and guarantees the continuity of the 
rehabilitation process from sentencing to full social reintegration. 
Descriptors: public law; prisoners; rights of prisoners (Source: UNESCO Thesaurus). 
 
RESUMEN 
El actual artículo de investigación tiene por objetivo analizar las políticas de reinserción social en el 
sistema penal ecuatoriano. Basada en un diseño metodológico cualitativo de carácter descriptivo-
analítico en una población de 20 artículos científicos. Los resultados revelan que el sistema opera 
bajo un  "formalismo  rehabilitador" donde  los  programas existen nominalmente,  pero  carecen  de 
condiciones materiales para su implementación efectiva. Se concluye que las políticas de reinserción 
social  requieren  una  reformulación  integral  que  trascienda  las  intervenciones  fragmentadas  para 
construir  un  modelo  coherente,  sostenible  y  basado  en  evidencia,  que  articule  esfuerzos 
interinstitucionales y garantice la continuidad del proceso rehabilitador desde la sentencia hasta la 
plena reintegración social. 
Descriptores: derecho público; prisionero; derechos de los prisioneros. (Fuente: Tesauro UNESCO).  
 
 
Received: 04/09/2024. Revised: 28/09/2024. Approved: 13/10/2024. Published: 14/01/2025. 
Research articles section

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

INTRODUCTION

The social reintegration of persons deprived of their liberty is one of the most

complex challenges facing contemporary penal systems, particularly in contexts

characterised by structural penitentiary crises such as the Ecuadorian one. This

imperative, elevated to constitutional rank in the national legal system, transcends

the mere normative declaration to become a parameter of legitimacy of the punitive

power of the state and a necessary condition for the construction of a society that

reconciles the demands of security with the principles of human dignity and

comprehensive rehabilitation.

Therefore, the current research article aims to analyse social reintegration policies

in the Ecuadorian penal system.

Theoretical frame of reference

In a context where the prison crisis has shown the limitations of the current model,

it is imperative to rethink social reintegration policies from perspectives that

recognise both the complexity of the criminal phenomenon and the state's

responsibility in the generation of conditions that make possible trajectories of

desistance and social reintegration, in this sense; it is presented:

Conceptual foundations of social reintegration

Social reintegration is a multidimensional theoretical construct that has undergone

significant evolution in the field of criminal and criminological sciences.

Conceptually, it transcends the mere physical reincorporation of the individual into

society to become a complex process of social, psychological and economic

reintegration that allows the person who has broken the criminal law to develop a

life project away from criminality. As Brito-Febles & Alcocer-Castillo (2021) point

out, social reintegration should be understood as a "dynamic and bidirectional

process" that involves both the individual transformation of the offender and the

generation of social conditions that enable his or her effective reintegration.

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

This conceptualisation distances itself from previous paradigms focused exclusively

on rehabilitation, understood as the behavioural modification of the individual, to

incorporate relational and structural dimensions that recognise the influence of

social, economic and cultural factors in criminal trajectories. In this sense, Iturralde-

Durán (2022) proposes understanding social reintegration as an "ecosystemic

process" that requires the articulation of multiple actors and institutions at different

levels of intervention.

From a legal perspective, social reintegration is based on the principle of human

dignity and on the conception of punishment as an instrument of special positive

prevention. This axiological foundation is supported by international instruments

such as the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela

Rules) and the Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived

of Liberty in the Americas, which establish standards for the implementation of

prison policies aimed at social reintegration.

In the Ecuadorian context, the 2008 Constitution establishes in Article 201 that the

purpose of the social rehabilitation system shall be "the comprehensive

rehabilitation of persons sentenced to criminal sanctions in order to reintegrate

them into society", thus elevating social reintegration to constitutional status and

making it a fundamental right of persons deprived of their liberty. This constitutional

provision is developed in the Código Orgánico Integral Penal (COIP), which

establishes a progressive rehabilitation system based on individualised treatment

and gradual preparation for release.

Theoretical paradigms on social reintegration

The specialised literature identifies various theoretical paradigms that have guided

social reintegration policies in contemporary penal systems. These paradigms not

only configure interpretative frameworks for understanding the criminal

phenomenon, but also determine the intervention strategies implemented in prison

systems.

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

The correctionalist paradigm, predominant during most of the 20th century,

conceives delinquency as the result of individual deficiencies susceptible to

correction through therapeutic interventions; under this approach, social

reintegration will be equated with rehabilitation, understood as the modification of

cognitive, behavioural and attitudinal patterns that predispose to criminal

behaviour. As Palacios (2022) points out, this paradigm has been criticised for its

tendency to "pathologise crime" and for ignoring the structural factors that influence

criminal trajectories.

In contrast, the social reintegration paradigm, developed mainly from the 1980s

onwards, emphasises the relational dimension of the reintegration process and

community responsibility in the reception of those who have served a sentence,

being represented in the work of López-Torres (2023), conceives reintegration as a

process of "reconstruction of social ties" that requires both the preparation of the

individual and the awareness and active participation of the receiving community.

In parallel, the restorative justice paradigm proposes a radical reconceptualisation

of the social response to crime, prioritising the reparation of harm and the

reconstruction of relationships over the imposition of punishment. From this

perspective, developed in the work of Morocho (2024), social reintegration is

conceived as part of a broader process of "social pacification" that involves victims,

offenders and the community in the search for constructive solutions to the conflict

generated by crime.

In recent years, the criminal desistance paradigm, which focuses on the processes

by which individuals abandon criminal trajectories, has gained relevance and is

represented in the work of Bonilla-Morejón (2023), conceives social reintegration

as a "process of identity transformation" that involves the construction of a personal

narrative away from crime and the acquisition of conventional social roles; in this

case, desistance theory emphasises the agency of the individual and the importance

of biographical "turning points" as catalysts for change.

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

Consequently, the human rights paradigm has become central to the contemporary

debate on prison policy, shaping what Cordero & Oviedo (2024) call a "rights-based

approach" to social reintegration. This paradigm emphasises that persons deprived

of liberty retain all their fundamental rights, with the exception of those expressly

limited by the sentence, and that the effectiveness of these rights is a necessary

condition for any process of social reintegration.

Intervention models for social reintegration

The theoretical paradigms described above are materialised in various intervention

models that guide institutional practices in prison systems, these models shape

specific methodological approaches to address the multiple dimensions of social

reintegration.

The risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model, initially developed by Andrews & Bonta, is

one of the most influential approaches in contemporary prison intervention. This

model, based on empirical evidence on predictors of recidivism, proposes that

interventions should focus on high-risk individuals (risk principle), address dynamic

criminogenic factors (need principle) and adapt to the individual characteristics of

the participants (responsivity principle). As Vargas (2021) points out, the

implementation of this model in the Ecuadorian context has faced difficulties derived

from the insufficiency of validated instruments for risk assessment and the scarcity

of specialised technical staff.

Complementarily, the Good Lives Model, developed by Tony Ward, proposes an

approach focused on the strengths and potential of the individual, rather than on

his or her deficits or risk factors. This model, represented in the work of Soria &

Oviedo (2022), conceives social reintegration as a process of "rebuilding capacities"

that allows the individual to satisfy fundamental human needs (such as autonomy,

competence and connectedness) through pro-social means. The implementation of

this approach requires the development of holistic interventions that simultaneously

address multiple dimensions of individual well-being.

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

The therapeutic justice model, on the other hand, proposes the use of the legal

system as a therapeutic agent, emphasising the rehabilitative potential of judicial

interactions. This approach, developed in the work of Torres (2024), has found

application in initiatives such as drug treatment courts and restorative justice

programmes, which prioritise the resolution of underlying problems over the

imposition of punitive sanctions. The implementation of this model requires a

significant transformation of the judicial culture and specialised training of legal

operators.

In the specific field of intervention with vulnerable groups, models of differentiated

intervention that recognise the specific needs of populations such as women,

adolescents and people with mental disorders have gained relevance. These models,

represented in the works of Espinoza (2016) and Peñafiel-Espinoza & Mera-Baldeón

(2024), propose the implementation of specific protocols that incorporate gender,

intercultural and human rights perspectives in the approach to social reintegration.

Consequently, continuum of care models emphasise the importance of the transition

between the prison environment and the community as a critical phase of the

reintegration process. These models, developed in the work of Brito-Febles &

Alcocer-Castillo (2021), propose the implementation of programmes of preparation

for release and post-release accompaniment that facilitate gradual reintegration into

community life. Therefore, the effectiveness of these models requires inter-

institutional articulation and the active participation of civil society organisations in

the process of welcoming and supporting released prisoners.

Factors conditioning social reintegration

Among individual factors, empirical research highlights the importance of variables

such as motivation to change, the acquisition of pro-social skills, overcoming

addictions and the construction of a non-criminal identity. As Nieto et al. (2024)

point out, these factors interact in a complex way with personal characteristics such

as age, gender and previous criminal history, configuring differentiated profiles that

require interventions adapted to their particularities.

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

Relational factors include the quality of family ties, the existence of social support

networks and the availability of prosocial role models in the immediate environment.

Research by Mancheno-Salazar et al. (2022) shows that the maintenance of family

ties during the period of imprisonment is a significant predictor of successful

reintegration, while association with delinquent peers is a risk factor for recidivism.

In the institutional sphere, factors such as prison conditions, the quality of treatment

programmes, preparation for release and the availability of post-release follow-up

mechanisms significantly condition the possibilities of reintegration. Research by da-

Fonte Carvalho et al. (2022) shows that overcrowding, intra-prison violence and the

precariousness of basic services make up "environments of rehabilitative

impossibility" that hinder any intervention aimed at reintegration.

Consequently, structural factors include variables such as access to employment and

educational opportunities, the existence of inclusive social policies and the

prevalence of stigmatising attitudes in the receiving society. As Haro & Erazo (2023)

point out, effective social reintegration requires the implementation of

comprehensive policies that transcend the penitentiary sphere to address the

structural conditions that favour social exclusion and criminal recidivism.

METHOD

The article was based on a qualitative methodological design of a descriptive-

analytical nature, aimed at critically examining social reintegration policies in the

Ecuadorian penal system; this methodological approach responded to the complex

nature of the object of study, which required a multidimensional approach capable

of integrating normative, institutional and sociological elements.

A systematic documentary research design was adopted, complemented by

elements of critical discourse analysis, which allowed us not only to identify the

formal components of social reintegration policies, but also to examine the

underlying conceptions and power relations that shaped their implementation.

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

A systematic review of 20 academic publications on social reintegration and prison

systems was conducted, with emphasis on empirical studies developed in the

Ecuadorian and Latin American context during the period 2015-2024. This review

included scientific articles indexed in databases such as Scopus, Web of Science,

SciELO and Redalyc.

RESULTS

This research has made it possible to identify four fundamental dimensions that

make up the current panorama of social reintegration policies in the Ecuadorian

penal system. The critical analysis of these dimensions reveals the complexity of the

phenomenon and the existing tensions between the normative framework and the

reality of the penitentiary system.

Legal framework and criminal policy: The gap between normativity and effectiveness

The Montecristi Constitution established a guarantee paradigm that elevated social

rehabilitation to constitutional status, configuring a multilevel system of protection

that, in theory, should ensure the effectiveness of the rights of persons deprived of

liberty. However, the judicialisation of prison guarantees has become a mechanism

of formal legitimisation that has failed to transform the material conditions of

imprisonment. As the specialised doctrine points out, there is an "implementation

gap" between the formulation of penitentiary guarantees and their material

concretion (Torres, 2024), a phenomenon that transcends mere administrative

ineffectiveness to become a problem of state legitimacy.

This dissociation between the normative "should be" and the institutional "to be" is

manifested with particular intensity in Ecuadorian criminal policy, characterised by a

punitive populism that contradicts the constitutionally enshrined rehabilitative

principles. The expansion of criminal law as a primary response to complex social

problems has generated what Palacios (2022) calls "punitive inflation", which

exponentially increases the prison population without providing the necessary

resources for adequate attention. This trend has been exacerbated by legislative

reforms which, under the banner of public safety, have stiffened sentences and

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

restricted early release mechanisms, contravening the principle of minimum penal

intervention and generating a systemic overload that makes any rehabilitative

pretension impossible.

Constitutional jurisprudence, for its part, has attempted to fill this gap through

pronouncements recognising the "unconstitutional state of affairs" in the Ecuadorian

penitentiary system. However, the effectiveness of these pronouncements is limited

by the absence of follow-up mechanisms and institutional resistance to

implementing structural transformations. This situation shapes what could be

conceptualised as a "nominal penitentiary constitutionalism ", characterised by the

existence of a normative framework that lacks effective implementation and control

mechanisms.

Rehabilitation Programmes and Strategies: Fragmentation and Unsustainability

With regard to rehabilitation programmes and strategies, the analysis reveals a

fragmented and discontinuous paradigm; therefore, the initiatives implemented

suffer from three structural deficiencies: i) chronic budgetary insufficiency, ii)

programmatic discontinuity and iii) absence of longitudinal evaluation mechanisms.

This triad of deficiencies has generated what could be conceptualised as "ephemeral

prison interventions", characterised by their limited scope and sustainability.

Empirical evidence suggests that existing programmes operate under a logic of

containment rather than transformation, prioritising the management of the prison

population over their effective rehabilitation. In this case, the prison management

model implemented in Ecuador has tried to incorporate elements of progressivity

and individualised treatment, but its operationalisation has been hindered by prison

overcrowding and insufficient specialised technical staff. This situation has

generated what Vargas (2021) calls a "fictional rehabilitation", characterised by the

formal existence of programmes that lack the material conditions necessary for their

effective implementation.

On the other hand, programmatic discontinuity constitutes another significant

obstacle to the effectiveness of rehabilitative interventions. In this case, changes in

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

the prison administration usually lead to substantial modifications in the

programmes implemented, generating a "policy of perpetual reinvention" that

prevents the consolidation of methodologies and the accumulation of institutional

learning. This programmatic volatility is exacerbated by the absence of integrated

information systems to monitor the trajectories of persons deprived of liberty and

evaluate the impact of the interventions carried out.

Particularly worrying is the disarticulation between intra-prison interventions and

post-prison support mechanisms. In this regard, research by Brito-Febles & Alcocer-

Castillo (2021) shows that effective social reintegration requires sustained

accompaniment during the period of transition to freedom, a phase that currently

constitutes an "institutional vacuum" in the Ecuadorian system. This disarticulation

generates what we could call a "truncated rehabilitation", where the progress

achieved during the period of incarceration is diluted in the absence of continuity

and support mechanisms.

It is therefore imperative to move towards a model of "rehabilitative continuity" that

transcends the temporal and spatial limits of incarceration, incorporating

mechanisms of post-penitentiary follow-up and inter-institutional articulation. This

model would require the implementation of what Iturralde-Durán (2022)

conceptualises as "reinsertion ecosystems", characterised by the coordinated

participation of public, private and community institutions in the social reintegration

process.

Vulnerable Groups and Social Factors: Towards a Differentiated Intervention

The dimension relating to vulnerable groups and social factors reveals a problem of

"differentiated invisibilisation" within the prison system; the specific needs of

women, adolescents and other vulnerable groups are subsumed under standardised

protocols that ignore the particularities of these groups. This phenomenon of prison

homogenisation contravenes the principle of material equality and perpetuates

cycles of exclusion that transcend the period of incarceration.

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

The case of women prisoners is paradigmatic of this problem. As Espinoza (2016)

points out, the Ecuadorian prison system has been designed from an androcentric

perspective that ignores the specific needs of the female population. This

invisibilisation is manifested in multiple dimensions: from prison infrastructure to

training programmes , health care and visiting regimes. Particularly worrying is the

situation of women with maternal responsibilities, who face what could be called a

"double punishment": deprivation of liberty and separation from their children, with

the psychosocial consequences that this entails both for them and for their families.

A similar situation is faced by adolescents in conflict with criminal law, who, despite

having a specialised system, experience what Nieto et al. (2024) conceptualise as

an "adultization of treatment". This trend is manifested in the prioritisation of

security measures over socio-educational interventions, contravening the principles

of the doctrine of comprehensive protection and generating stigmatisation

processes that hinder effective social reintegration. Contemporary research shows

that the criminal trajectories of adolescents are closely linked to factors of social

vulnerability, such as lack of schooling, economic precariousness and exposure to

violent environments, factors that are not adequately addressed by the current

system.

Contemporary research suggests the need to implement what could be called

"differentiated intervention protocols", based on the recognition of the

heterogeneity of the prison population and the understanding of criminal

trajectories as multidimensional phenomena. These protocols should incorporate

intersectional perspectives that recognise the confluence of multiple factors of

vulnerability and discrimination, such as gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and

disability, among others.

On the other hand, Peñafiel-Espinoza & Mera-Baldeón (2024), propose the

implementation of what they call "contextually situated intervention models",

characterised by their adaptability to the particularities of each population group

and by their capacity to articulate multidimensional responses to complex problems.

These models require the formation of specialised interdisciplinary teams and the

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

implementation of participatory methodologies that recognise prisoners as active

subjects in their own rehabilitation process.

Structural challenges and reform proposals: Paradigmatic reconfiguration

In terms of structural challenges and reform proposals, a dialectical tension is

identified between incremental reformist approaches and systemic transformation

approaches. The Ecuadorian prison crisis has reached a turning point that questions

the viability of partial interventions, suggesting the need for a "paradigmatic

reconfiguration" of the prison model.

The conditions of overcrowding, intra-prison violence and infrastructural

precariousness constitute ontological obstacles to any rehabilitative pretension,

configuring what we could conceptualise as "environments of rehabilitative

impossibility" (da-Fonte Carvalho et al., 2022). Overcrowding, which in some prisons

exceeds 300% of their installed capacity, generates living conditions that

contravene the minimum standards established by international human rights law.

This situation is exacerbated by insufficient security and technical staff, creating a

"governance vacuum" that has been filled by self-governing structures and

organised crime.

Intra-prison violence, manifested in recurrent clashes between rival gangs, is another

significant obstacle to the implementation of rehabilitative programmes. This

violence has reached unprecedented levels in recent years, creating what Haro and

Erazo (2023) call a "permanent state of factual exception" within prisons. This

situation has led to the prioritisation of containment and security measures over

rehabilitative interventions, generating a vicious circle where violence justifies the

hardening of the prison regime, which in turn exacerbates tensions and conflicts.

Given this reality, alternative proposals have emerged that range from the selective

privatisation of prison services (Tacuri, 2017) to the implementation of restorative

justice models (Morocho, 2024), demonstrating the need to transcend the

dichotomous debate between punitivism and abolitionism in order to explore

intermediate paths of institutional transformation. Selective privatisation,

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

conceptualised as the outsourcing of certain prison services under strict state

control mechanisms, has been proposed as an alternative to improve the quality of

care and optimise the use of resources. However, this proposal has been questioned

from perspectives that warn of the risks of commodification of punishment and

subordination of the rehabilitative purpose to the logic of economic profitability.

On the other hand, restorative justice emerges as an alternative paradigm that

proposes the reconfiguration of the relationships between victim, offender and

community, prioritising the reparation of harm over punitive retribution. This

approach, which has been successfully implemented in other Latin American

contexts, would require a profound transformation of the Ecuadorian legal culture,

characterised by what Morocho (2024) calls an "entrenched punitivism" that

permeates both institutions and the social imaginary.

CONCLUSION

Three structural deficiencies in the social reintegration policies of the Ecuadorian

penal system have been highlighted:

First, a profound dissociation between the normative framework of guarantees and

the institutional reality, where "rehabilitative formalism" manifests itself in

programmes that exist nominally, but lack the material conditions for their effective

implementation;

Secondly, institutional fragmentation that prevents the construction of "reintegration

ecosystems", as evidenced by the disarticulation between governmental entities and

civil organisations, hindering the continuity of the rehabilitation process beyond

incarceration;

Thirdly, the absence of differentiated, post-penitentiary policies, which neglects the

specific needs of vulnerable groups and abandons released prisoners during the

critical phase of transition to freedom, neutralising any progress made during

incarceration.

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

These deficiencies make up a system that, despite its constitutional foundation on

principles of comprehensive rehabilitation, operates under containment logics that

compromise both the fundamental rights of persons deprived of liberty and long-

term citizen security.

FUNDING

Non-monetary

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

There is no conflict of interest with persons or institutions involved in research.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To Ecuadorian jurists.

CONTRIBUTION OF THE AUTHORS

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez: Responsible for the methodological design and

theoretical analysis, focusing on the normative framework and constitutional

principles underpinning social reintegration policies in the Ecuadorian penal system.

He also participated in the drafting of the manuscript, the integration of doctrinal

and jurisprudential sources, and the final revision of the content to ensure its legal

accuracy.

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes: Responsible for the hermeneutic analysis of the

results, with special attention to the legal interpretation of the study categories and

their link with the theoretical paradigms on social reintegration. He contributed to

the structuring of the article, the discussion of the results and the final revision of

the text.

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca: Responsible for the systematic review of specialised

literature and the comparative analysis of intervention models for social

reintegration . He participated in the elaboration of the theoretical framework, the

identification of conditioning factors of social reintegration and the formulation of

conclusions.

REFERENCES

Arias, Á. F. J., Aguiar, J. S. C., Falcón, V. V., & Sanchez, W. Y. M. (2024). Violation of the right to social

reintegration due to lack of public policies in Ecuador [Vulneración del derecho a la

reinserción social por falta de políticas públicas en el Ecuador].

Iustitia Socialis: Revista

Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Criminalísticas

(16), 15.

Bonilla-Morejón, D. M. (2023). Criminal law and security policies in Ecuador: Analysis of effectiveness

[Derecho penal y políticas de seguridad en Ecuador: Análisis de la eficacia].

Revista Científica

Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

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Verdad y Derecho

Revista Arbitrada de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales

Vol. 4(1), 53-68, 2025

Políticas de reinserción social en el sistema penal ecuatoriano

Policies for social reintegration in the Ecuadorian penal system

Julio César de Jesús Arrias-Añez

Bryan Mauricio Núñez-Paredes

Jhonnatan Fernando Coca-Vaca

Propuesta de sistema penitenciario privado].

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penitenciaria en las personas privadas de libertad en la ciudad de Guayaquil, Ecuador 2020

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penitentiary system in Guayaquil and strategies for effective improvements].

Revista Lex,

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